The present invention relates to a lever-type electrical connector.
A conventional lever-type connector is described in JP-10-334987. In this connector, one of a pair of housings capable of mutually fitting together and being separated supports a lever in a manner whereby it can be pivoted. The other housing is provided with a cam pin which fits with a cam groove in the lever. When the two housings are to be fitted together, the two housings fit shallowly together while the lever is in a stand-by state. As a result, the cam pin enters an anterior edge position of the cam groove. From this state, the lever is pivoted to a fitting position. The fitting together of the cam groove and the cam pin draws the two housings together, these two housings then reaching a fitted state. If the lever is pivoted from this fitted state in the opposite direction, the fitted together cam groove and cam pin cause the two housings to move to the shallow fitting position. From this position, the cam pin can be removed from the anterior edge position of the cam groove, and the two housings can be separated.
When the lever is returned to the stand-by position and the two housings are to be separated, the cam pin remains fitted with the cam groove if the lever is misaligned from the stand-by position in the direction of the fitting position. Consequently, the two housings cannot be separated. As a result, smooth operation is impeded. The present invention has been developed after taking the above problem into consideration, and aims to present a lever-type connector wherein the separation operation of the two housings can be performed smoothly.
According to the invention there is provided a lever type electrical connector comprising a pair of mutually engeageable housings, one of the housings having a pivotable lever defining a cam track, and the other of the housings having a cam follower engageable with the cam track whereby pivoting of the lever from a stand-by position to a fitted position causes said cam follower to be drawn along said cam track, thereby drawing said housings together from shallow to deep engagement characterised in that said lever has identifying means adapted to permit visual confirmation of the respective position of said cam track and cam follower.
Such an arrangement permits the position of the cam follower to be viewed, and accordingly the lever can be placed in the correct position for smooth reception and disengagement of the cam follower and cam track.
Preferably a portion of the cam track is open, and a portion is occluded, the transition between open and occluded portions defining a visual marker for the cam follower. The cam follower is preferably occluded in the stand-by position of the lever.
The occluded portion may comprise a bridge linking both sides of said cam track, thus providing additional reinforcement. The bridge may completely occlude one end of the cam track, and the transition between open and occluded portions may be defined by a straight edge.